7 TIPS TO OVERCOME WRITER'S BLOCK

August 16, 2017
Elijah Ogidi-Olu
0 Comments

A writer’s nightmare, a tunnel that has
turned into an abyss for many a few writers who innocently lacked the right
information on the exact thing to do to unwind themselves from the feeling of
being trapped in their own heads – the frustrating and depressing feeling of
the Writer’s
Block. There is no experienced writer anywhere in the world who does not know what
writer’s block is, just that you might have experienced it without knowing what
to call what you’re experiencing. But as a writer, writer’s block at some point is as sure as
breathing in oxygen whether you’re awake or asleep.

There are various kinds of Writer’s Block,
ranging from you not being able to come up with any idea, just staring blankly
at your computer or notepad to having the ideas in your head not being able to
write it down or not feeling you have the right words to convey the message, to
getting stuck in the middle of a project. But as it’s rightly said, lack of
information could leave you in a state of deformation. Hence, this vital piece
of information on how to navigate your way out of Writer’s Block and be rest
assured that these seven tips does work.

1. Take
a break – Your brain might be bored without you even knowing it and this
could cause a jam in your thought-flow. Reading and Writing are one of the few
things that bore the brain easily and one of the best ways this can be tackled
is changing your activity. Stare at the ceiling, watch some videos, take a
walk, make some phone calls, and so on.

2. Write
something else – Take a break from your main project, and just pick up a
pen and begin scribbling things down. No forethoughts, no grammar, no
structure, probably not even punctuations and paragraphs. Just give it a
free-flow or freestyle. This clears your jam while not totally taking you out
of the zone. This works most times when you feel your work load is more than
you.

3. Task
your mind – Similar to doing something else, task your mind or do something
creative. Paint a picture, edit some photos either on your photo editor or
photoshop, do some knitting, repair some stuffs, Work in the garage, play
games. This personally works for me. Doing this helps you jump the road block
just in front of the creative areas of your mind.

4. Sleep
in thought – Creative thinking at bedtime also helps in overcoming writer’s
block. “Think before you sleep” is a technique I’ve successfully used on a
number of occasions. Thinking about what your project entails just as you’re about to
doze off definitely works, especially if your project is a story. Personalize
the characters; you could even put yourself in the plot and so on. That moment
before bedtime is one of the best times to do that.

5. Early
bird technique – Believe it or not, your writing flows better in the morning.
I mean around 4am – 8am. At that time, your brain is still in some charged up
level and you explore your imaginative areas more just after you wake up. This
is just a fact you personally might not agree with but test it over time and
you’ll realize what I call “the early bird” technique is actually very real.

6. Edit
some write-ups – Editing some of your old write-ups, definitely helps
overcome Writer’s Block. Skim through the pages and change the words, the
structure/plot or both. Something like examining yourself. This method I must
say doesn’t work for every writer and doesn’t work all the time, from my
personal experience.

7. Don’t
force it – This is arguably the most important step. Don’t force working on
a project you feel jammed on. You could be doing more harm than good by
flogging your brain to work. You don’t want to experience the pathetic
sabbatical effect of the aftermath of forcing a project out of your Writer’s
Block. It’s really one of the worst nightmares a writer could face.

Writer’s block, though isn’t funny but once
you can master your zone, you can easily wriggle your way out of it in no time
at all and implementing these tips would hopefully also help in pulling you out of it… But remember, don’t force it.

Hello. I'm Ogidi-Olu Elijah. A Creative Content Developer, Freelance writer and Blogger. I also help people manage their blogs via content management. Thanks for checking me out on MMT. Where, we talk with no holds barred. Got something for me? Kindly send me a mail. It's good to have you here. Let's have some fun!

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